Cigarette making machine



June 23, 1964 A. K. F. FFOULKES CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE Filed July 5, 1961 2 Sheets-Sheet l fig.l

INVENTOR ARTHUR KINGSLEY FISCHER ffOULKES ATTORNEY A. K. F. FFOULKES CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE June 23, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 5, 1961 viiwpw ATTORN EY 3,138,163 CIGARETTE MAKING MACHINE Arthur Kingsley Fischer ffoulkes, Geneva, Switzerland,

assignor to American Machine & Foundry (10., a corporation of New Jersey Filed July 3, 1961, Ser. No. 121,703 2 Claims. (Cl. 131-20) This invention relates to a method for supplying shredded tobacco to the rod forming mechanism of a cigarette machine in such a way as to regulate the various tobacco shred lengths within those proportions found most desirable for the production of high quality cigarettes. By means of the present method it is possible to supply to the rod forming mechanism of a cigarette making machine tobacco having different lengths of shred in definite predetermined proportions found to be characteristic of the most satisfactory cigarettes.

In the current methods of cigarette manufacture, tobacco leaves are shredded in a shredder which produces shreds which vary in length but are all quite long. These shreds are fed between carded rolls to a picker roll and are then directed in controlled volume to the rod forming mechanism in the form of shreds of various lengths. Undesirably the spikes of the carded rolls occasion much breakage of tobacco shreds into so called shorts. The accumulation of shorts in any localized position in the rod results in variations in the smoking quality or feel of the cigarette produced.

Heretofore, attempts have been made to control the uniformity of the cigarette rod through the use of better detectors or of more refined rod forming mechanisms. This, however, added substantially to the manufacturing costs of cigarette making and often failed to produce cigarettes of the uniformity desired.

An object of this invention is to obtain greater uni formity of the cigarette rod by controlling the size of the tobacco shreds which are fed to the rod forming mechanism.

Another object of this invention is the separation of relatively granular shorts from shreds of good length so that the quantities of these two components of the rod may be controlled by different individual mechanisms, each better adapted to controlling its respective component.

Shorts slip between the conventional carding spikes and are picked therefrom very irregularly by pins of conventional picker rollers. Shreds of desirable length are apt to be broken by the blades of a pocket-wheel suitable for metering shorts.

A further and related object of this invention is to provide a device for pre-conditioning tobacco shreds wherein oscillating screening means are used to agitate substantially all the tobacco shreds in the feed for about the same time.

Yet another object of the invention is to provide a device of the character described which is able to loosen tobacco shreds uniformly and sufiiciently to permit winnowing out substantially all foreign matter and pieces of stem.

An additional object of the invention is to providea process for flufiing tobacco so as to relieve the stresses and unequally compresses tobacco shreds to improve their cigarette filling power.

Another object of this invention is to provide a process wherein small size tobacco shreds or shorts are introduced either continuously into the general flow of shreds of good length or alternatively are introduced intermittently into the tobacco braid.

An additional object of this invention is to provide a process which employs balanced high speed vibrating screens for loosening, separating and pre-sizing tobacco shreds.

- United States Patent It is also an object of this invention to provide a preconditioning feeding process for shredded tobacco in which such tobacco is converted progressively into a stream of substantially uniform density.

Other objects and features of the invention will appear as the description of the particular embodiment selected to illustrate the invention progresses. In the accompanying drawings, which form a part of this specification, like characters of reference have been applied to corresponding parts throughout the several views which make up the drawings.

FIG. 1 and FIG. 2, taken together, with FIG. 1 disposed to the left of FIG. 2, show a schematic cross sectional view of a device for treating tobacco shreds prior to their formation into a cigarette rod, or other smokable articles, in which device the shreds are treated preliminarily in the mechanism of FIG. 1 before their delivery to the mechanism of FIG. 2 for additional treatment.

FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, taken together, with FIG. 3 disposed to the left of FIG. 4 show a schematic cross sectional view of another embodiment of the device of FIGS. 1 and 2.

As will be made clear in the description hereinafter, each one of FIGS. 1, 2, 3 and 4 shows a mechanism which is capable of performing independent tobacco processing operations. Further, the mechanisms of FIGS. 1 and 3 perform operations which may be entirely independent of further operations or may be preliminary to further processing in the mechanisms of FIGS. 2 or 4. Further, the mechanism of FIG. 1 may be operated so that it is preliminary to the operation of the mechanism of FIG. 4 and the mechanism of FIG. 3 may be operated so that it is preliminary to the operation of the mechanism of FIG. 2. And finally, the mechanism of FIGS. 2 and 4 may be operated with mechanisms other than that of FIGS. 1 and 3. In this case, the mechanisms of FIGS. 2 and 4 may receive tobacco at their respective inputs, the shreds of which do not exceed a maximum permissible length and from which stems and undesirable foreign matter has been removed in machines of other types.

Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, the device of the invention comprises a first elongated vibrating tray 10 supporting a screen having sieve openings about 10 mm. square. One end of the tray is connected to vibrating means shownas 12, through a rod or rods 14. A suitable means is described in my US. patent application Ser. No. 1,492 filed January 9, 1960. This unit includes a motor driving two pairs of eccentrics out of phase, one eccentric connected to each edge of a lightweight tray of which the direction of oscillation is controlled by inclined suspension links.

The vibration of the screen thus actuated will carry the tobacco shreds fed thereto uphill toward carded pin roll 16, which rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow. As the feed is vibrated on the screen and moves uphill thereon, the shorts, the tobacco shreds of good length and the stems pass through the screen and fall onto a collecting tray 19. Only unduly long shreds are retained on the screen. These are advanced by the vibratory motion of the screen to picker roller 16. Picker roller 16 is surrounded partially by concave 18.

A bank of rotating circular knives 20 enter concave 18 through openings therein to further subdivide the long shreds into shreds having a size such as will pass through screen 10. Those shreds which are not reduced to that size will again be advanced to the picker roll and to the knives and eventually will have the proper size.

A collecting tray 19 communicates as shown with conduit 24 which is connected to a source of suction. The

shorts and the good length shreds are carried upwardly. The stems owing to their greater density fall into stern (.2 box 26. Alternatively air flow may be created by blowing obliquely upward from beneath the discharge end of tray 19.

As shown on FIG. 2, conduit 24A leads the tobacco shorts and the good length shreds to a second vibratory screen 27 which may be actuated by the same vibratory unit as is screen or tray 19 through a suitable rod 28. To minimize vibration of the device itself, the two screens can be balanced one against the other. Suitably conduits 24 and 24A terminate in an enlarged section having an airlock 32. Vibratory screen 27 preferably has openings therein which are about 1 mm. in size so as to allow passage of shorts down to a collector 34 while retaining the shreds having the desired size. Vibration of the screen causes motion of the desired shreds along to the end of the screen. The rotating carding roll or drum 36 of a cigarette making machine then picks up the shreds for more exact control of volume and eventual transport to the rod making machinery.

It has been found that the screen 10 preferably should have a reciprocating motion having a total stroke of about half an inch at about 1000 cycles/minute and the screen 27 may balance this motion by a similar motion 180 out of phase. It is also recommended that suspension links controlling the motion of the screens be inclined at an angle of approximately 60 to 70 to the surface of the screens which may slope uphill at 10 from the horizontal.

In FIGS. 3 and 4, conveyor belts are employed instead of collecting trays. FIG. 3 comprises a container 40. Mounted in the upper part of said container is a feed belt 42 passing over driving pulley 46 and idler roller 44. Belt 42 is adapted to receive several pounds of tobacco and to forward the same in the direction shown by the arrow.

Mounted transversely at one end of belt 42 is another moving belt 48 suitably upwardly driven by a pulley 50. The lower lap of endless belt 48 runs over idler roller 52. As shown, a series of teeth, carding or tines are mounted on the outer surface of belt 48, preferable at an acute angle with respect to the outer surface thereof, and are so disposed that, as the righthand surface of the belt moves upwardly, they are inclined upwardly. This arrangement facilitates elevating the tobacco forwarded by belt 4-2 as belt 48 rises on the right, and permitting it to fall as a shower onto screen 53 as belt 48 descends on the left. As shown on FIG. 3, the ends of belts 42 and 48 may be closely spaced to minimize the dropping of tobacco onto screen 53. Belt 42 travels just fast enough to supply what belt 48 can remove, and thus avoids turning the tobacco over and over. The purpose of belt 43 is to provide continuously a small heap of tobacco at the input end of the screen 53. Suitably in this embodiment of the invention, the screen 53 may have openings of about /2 an inch.

Mounted at the right-hand end of and below screen 53 is a rotating spiked drum 54 positioned in a concave 56, for breaking up shreds too long to pass through the screen openings. Concave 56 is located as shown slightly above the lower extremity of air uptake conduit 58. Belt 62 passes over idler roller 66 and is driven in the direction of the arrow by pulley 64. Belt 62 is positioned directly below screen 53. Belt 62 transports the shreds which are deposited thereon toward the right, where belt 62 communicates with the input of the air uptake conduit 58. A stem box 67 for receiving the stems is positioned under pulley 64 and the end of conduit 58. If desired a rotary refuser 60 may be mounted over conveyor belt 62 to maintain uniform thickness of tobacco feed.

The operation of the above described apparatus is as follows: A quantity of shredded tobacco is fed to belt 42 and is carried to belt 48. The teeth on belt 48 pick up a quantity of shreds and drop them on screen 53, near its left-hand end, to which the vibrator is connected. For best results, it is recommended that belts 42 and 48 be driven and screen 53 be vibrated at such relative rates as to maintain a small quantity of tobacco shreds continuously at the vibrator end of the screen in the form of a heap represented by reference character 68.

As the screen is vibrated, shorts and shreds of good length pass through it and fall onto belt 62. The longer shreds eventually fall into concave 56 where they are broken up into smaller segments by spiked drum 54 and thrown onto belt 62. The shreds and stems on belt 62 finally reach the point near pulley 64 Where the stems because of their greater density fall into stern box 67 while the shreds are sucked upwardly in conduit 58.

If desired, the shreds may be pneumatically transported through conduit 58 to another device such as that shown on FIG. 2 or FIG. 4 for further pre-conditioning. Otherwise, they may be fed to the rod forming mechanism.

The arrangement of FIG. 4 is especially adapted for receiving tobacco comprising a mixture of shreds of good length and comparatively granular, short, tobacco particles distributed randomly and for delivering a mixture in which these two elements are combined in a preferred ratio. This device comprises a pneumatic or other feed conveyor having an enlarged terminal end section provided with a an airlock 71 comprising a vane rotor 72. Mounted below the airlock 71 is a vibratory screen 74 connected to a vibrator unit 76. Preferably, in this embodiment the screen size openings are of the order of 1 mm.

The aforementioned feeding equipment is operated so that this conveyor maintains a heap of tobacco shreds 78 on the end of the vibratory screen near the vibrator unit 76. Below screen 74 is positioned an endless belt 30 driven in the direction shown by pulley 82, and idling over roller 84. At the end of and below screen 74 is positioned a carding drum 36 for processing shreds of good length. Above the carding drum 86 is mounted carded refuser drum 88 which rotates in the direction shown. A tamping device, which may be a reciprocating plunger 90, tamps the shreds down on wheel 86. A counter-rotating picker roller 92 removes tobacco from carding drum 86, throwing shreds down on tobacco collecting belt 87 which conveys the shreds to the rod former.

Shorts falling through the screen 74 are delivered by belt to a hopper M which serves as a reservoir between the pre-feed classifying screen 74 and the point where these are mixed with shreds of good length. All of the shorts are accumulated in this reservoir which thereby absorbs variations in the proportion of short shreds in the initial tobacco supply. As shown on FIG. 4, the reservoir 94 is generally pocket-shaped and is positioned below belt 80 but above a small metering drum 96 equipped with blades to form measuring pockets. This discharges onto the tobacco collecting belt 91 which carries the main feed.

As indicated, the reservoir and the drum together form a restricted tobacco feeding space. A reserve of shorts denoted by reference character 98 is provided in reservoir 94 for eventual feeding onto the tobacco collecting belt. The provision of this reserve positively ensures that in spite of variations in the proportion of long and short shreds in the initial tobacco supply, the pre-assorted shreds fed to the rod forming mechanism will be uniformly proportioned.

The device shown on FIG. 4 operates as follows. T obacco shreds are fed from a source of supply or from another device such as those shown on FIGS. 1 and 3, through conveyor 70 and are directed at a controlled rate onto the vibrator end of screen 74. The shreds are preferably fed at such a rate as to maintain an excess on said end. The shorts pass through the screen onto belt 80 and are conveyed to reservoir 94 from which they also are directed at a controlled rate onto tobacco collecting belt 91.

The shreds left on the screen 74 are continuously agitated by the vibrator 76 as they progress on the screen toward the right, until they are delivered to the carder 86 and its associated mechanism, which delivers the shreds at a controlled rate onto the collecting belt 91. In this manner, the shorts which are not suitable for feeding by carding are separated by the screen and reintroduced later, to intermingle with the shreds of good length and in the desired proportions, through a suitable individual control. By controlling the rate of delivery of both types of shreds it is possible to control the tobacco stream fed to the rod former so that there is combined therein the optimum proportions of the dif ferent shred lengths as determined by sorting shreds of different lengths in cigarettes having good mechanical and smoking qualities.

It will be noted that with all the embodiments of the invention shown, less breakage of tobacco shreds occurs than when the shreds are torn by a relatively large number of carding spikes from the heavy churning mass of tobacco in the present day feed hoppers.

It will be appreciated that the present apparatus may be installed in or adjoining the cigarette making machine or the pneumatic stem separating duct may be used as a pneumatic conveyor to transport the shreds any desired distance from the present apparatus to the cigarette making machine.

The invention hereinabove described may therefore be varied in construction within the scope of the claims, for the particular device selected to illustrate the invention is but one of many possible embodiments of the same. The invention, therefore, is not to be restricted to the precise details of the structure shown and described.

What is claimed is:

1. A continuous process of making a tobacco rod for a smokeable article, to limit the quantity of short tobacco shreds therein, which process comprises continuously forming a first moving stream of tobacco shreds of random length from a source thereof, said source consisting of first shreds of relatively long length and second shreds of relatively short length, continuously forming a first accumulation of shreds in said first moving stream, continuously withdrawing shreds of said random length from said first accumulation and continuously forming thereof a continuously moving second stream, continuously selecting said first shreds from said second stream and forming thereof a continuously moving third stream, continuously selecting said second shreds from said second stream and forming thereof a fourth continuously moving stream such that the quantity of tobacco in said fourth stream when added to' the quantity of tobacco in said third stream is substantially equal to the quantity of tobacco in said first stream, continuously forming a second accumulation in said fourth stream, said second accumulation containing only said second shreds, continuously forming a fifth moving stream from said second accumulation, and combining said third and said fifth streams continuously into a blended tobacco rod, which rod contains a selected quantity of each of said first and said second shreds.

2. A continuous process in accordance with claim 1 including continuously controlling the quantity of shreds in each of said third and said fifth streams, at a respectively individual rate, to blend a selected quantity of each of said first and said second shreds and randomly arranging the same into the final rod.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 635,076 Perkins Oct. 17, 1899 2,109,200 Leary Feb. 22, 1938 2,318,588 Arelt May 11, 1943 FOREIGN PATENTS 764,551 Great Britain Dec. 28, 1956 

1. A CONTINUOUS PROCESS OF MAKING A TOBACCO ROD FOR A SMOKEABLE ARTICLE, TO LIMIT THE QUANTITY OF SHORT TOBACCO SHREDS THEREIN, WHICH PROCESS COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY FORMING A FIRST MOVING STREAM OF TOBACCO SHREDS OF RANDOM LENGTH FROM A SOSURCE THEREOF, SAID SOURCE CONSISTING OF FIRST SHREDS OF R ELATIVELY LONG LENGTH AND SECOND SHREDS OF RELATIVELY SHORT LENGTH, CONTINUOUSLY FORMING A FIRST ACCUMULATION OF SHREDS IN SAID FIRST MOVING STREAM, CONTINUOUSLY WITHDRAWING SHREDS OF SAID RANDOM LENGTH FROM SAID FIRST ACCUMULATION AND CONTINUOUSLY FORMING THEREOF A CONTINUOUSLY MOVING SECOND STREAM, CONTINUOUSLY SELECTING SAID FRIST SHREDS FROM SAID SECOND STREAM AND FORMING THEREOF A CONTINUOUSLY MOVING THIRD STREAM, CONTINUOUSLY SELECTING SAID SECOND SHREDS FROM SAID SECOND 